Cookies on the Arsenal WebsiteWe use cookies to improve your browsing experience and help us improve our websites. We and carefully selected third parties use cookies to show you more relevant ads online. For more information, please click here. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our use of such cookies.

Arsenal were beaten 3-1 by Sporting Lisbon in the NextGen Series third-place play-off on Sunday afternoon.

In a low-key affair at Lake Como, Thomas Eisfeld gave Terry Burton’s side the lead after pouncing on a poor backpass but Sporting hit back before half-time through Wilson Manafa.

The Portuguese side extended their advantage after the restart courtesy of Ruben Semedo’s penalty and Ricardo Esgaio’s powerful strike.

It made for a disappointing end to a highly-encouraging European campaign for the Club’s rising stars. Yet they will be all the better for their experiences in the competition.

Burton made four changes to his side for this game, with Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill handed his first start in the competition in place of Martin Angha at left back. Alfred Mugabo, Zak Ansah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were also included as the Gunners looked to end their European adventure on a high.

Sporting had the lion’s share of possession in the opening exchanges, but the first chance of note came from Arsenal as Chuba Akpom was played in by Maitland-Niles’ slide-rule pass. The England Under-19 international held off the covering defender but could not beat the onrushing Mickael Meira, who palmed the ball to safety.

Eisfeld tested Meira again seconds later with a low drive from the edge of the area as the Gunners started to raise the tempo. But Lisbon have shown themselves to be a dangerous outfit throughout this competition, and came close opening the scoring through Diego Rubio, who fired just wide from 10 yards.

Arsenal eventually broke the deadlock in the 28th minute - but it came with a major slice of good fortune. Sporting right back Mauro Riquicho played a backpass straight to Eisfeld who was lurking in the area, and the German kept his cool to slot the ball beyond Meira.

The Portuguese side levelled matters soon afterwards though, when Wilson Manafa latched on to a loose ball in the area and drove it past Deyan Iliev from close range.

Sporting made a bright start to the second half and came close to snatching the lead when Wallyson Mallmann was played through on goal, but he fired wide. But they did not have long to wait as Semedo slotted home a penalty after Mugabo was adjudged to have brought down Luka Stojanovic in the area.

Iliev produced a superb double save to deny Rubio and then Esgaio as the Portuguese tried to turn the screw. The Arsenal goalkeeper pulled off another fine stop just after the hour mark to deny Rubio, but could do nothing in the 72nd minute as Esgaio slammed in a third for Sporting.

That was enough to consign the Gunners to defeat, but they should still take heart from a productive campaign that has seen them establish themselves as one of the best sides in Europe.

Arsenal U19

1

Iliev

2

Hajrovic

3

Hayden

4

Bellerin54

5

Ormonde-Ottewill

6

Yennaris (C)54

7

Mugabo

8

EisfeldGoal!

9

Akpom67

10

Ansah

11

Maitland-Niles73

Substitutes

12

Vickers

13

Jebb54

14

Olsson54

15

Ebecilio67

16

Iwobi73

Sporting Lisbon

1

Meira89

2

Riquicho81

3

SemedoGoal!

4

Pinto

5

Palhinha

6

EsgaioGoal!

7

ManafaGoal!

8

Figueiredo

9

Stojanovic81Yellow Card

10

Rubio89

11

Mallmann

Substitutes

12

Ribeiro

13

Edelino89

14

Rosa81

15

Prodence81

16

Oliveira89

17

Martins

18

Guedes

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source31 Mar 2013

Please ensure you enter the correct Date of Birth as it will be required if you need to reset your password

Please ensure that you enter your parents email address and click here to review our privacy policy for those who are under 13. Please note that an email address can only be used once to register as a Digital Member so you cannot register for both an adult and junior membership under the same email address.

Mobile Number

* Country

Language Preference

* Postcode

* Email Address

* Confirm Email Address

* Password

* Confirm Password

Get all the news from Arsenal.com

Weekly E-Newsletter (only in English)I would like to receive the weekly e-newsletter which includes match reviews and offers from The Arsenal Football Club plc and its commercial partners.

Club Information and Offers (only in English)I would like to receive information and offers relating to The Arsenal Football Club plc.

Offers and Information about Commercial Partners (only in English)I would like to receive information and offers relating to The Arsenal Football Club plc's commercial partners.For further details, see our Privacy Policy or write to us at Data Protection Officer, The Arsenal Football Club PLC, 75 Drayton Park, London N5 1BU